-----Original Message----- From: Robert Mitchell <rpmitch21@aol.com> To: slwelsh+trawlers <slwelsh+trawlers@gmail.com> Sent: Mon, Apr 6, 2015 9:08 am Subject: Re: GL: Looping "backwards" You have a grand idea, most of what you are planning is doable. Joe Pica's MV Carolyn Ann has given excellent advice, use Active Captain, know you and your boats limitations, investigate the concerns,but cast off the bowlines. We are from Montana and always wanted to go up the Missouri, but a couple of years in a marina next to one of the few tugboat captains qualified for the Missouri convinced me that my boat was not the boat for that trip and that the possiblity of prop damage and or grounding was high. We are in Columbus MS and next fall will loop backwards to the Rendevous and then further upstream to the Ohio and then down the Mississippi to the Atchaflaya and eventually to Houston for the winter. We love the rivers, MV Orinoco is our beach house, our house on the bayou, our house in the Keys and our magic carpet of adventure. We have spent the winter this year in Columbus, we fell in love with this university town with a big Air Force base, a location much like Fred has fallen in love with the Erie Canal. We have based our travels out of Columbus for several years, it's location gets us out of the hurricane zone in the summer, we are a week away from the Gulf and a couple of days away from the Kentucky Lakes. Everyone has a different idea of the loop, we have been on the "loop" for ten years, completed the loop in 2009, and have crossed the gulf 6 times, been upstream to St Louis (backwards) three times and to the Abacos twice. Our loop adventure opened our eyes to all the different geography, people and climates and it will be sad when we must leave this part of our lives. Enjoy the voyage! Robert and Patty Mitchell with Maggi the wonder dog MV ORINOCO, lying Columbus MS -----Original Message---- From: Sean Welsh <slwelsh+trawlers@gmail.comid> To: great-loop <great-loop@lists.trawlering.com> Sent: Sun, Apr 5, 2015 8:14 am Subject: GL: Looping "backwards" Relaxing here in Georgetown, Exuma and contemplating our cruising plans for the next few months. I am wondering if anyone on the list has done the loop clockwise or "backwards," and can offer any advice on the matter. Our boat is too tall to clear the forever-closed railroad bridge west of Chicago no matter what we do to it, and in its current configuration, the furthest north we were able to get on the east coast was Troy, NY (which, to be fair, was a wonderful cruise, thanks in no small part to listee Larry Zeitlin and his excellent Hudson River cruising guide). So we are contemplating heading around the Gulf to Mobile and doing the traditional western half of the route backwards, stair-stepping up the locks of the Tenn-Tom and doing occasional battle with river currents. Upon reaching the Ohio we might continue a short ways upriver before heading for Cairo and the Mississippi. Ultimately we will cruise the Mississippi all the way to New Orleans, but depending on exactly when we arrive in Cairo, we might first head upriver a ways, and/or we might make a detour up the Missouri. The boat is a full-displacement trawler, with an economical cruise of 6.5kt and a reasonable full speed of around 8kt (flank speed is close to 10). I am mostly concerned with any spots along the route where overcoming the current will be a major problem, and/or advice about how dam releases are timed. Our fixed air draft is 25', and any places where this might become an issue would also be appreciated. Ironically, the boat itself has done nearly the entire loop, having been brought to its first home port of Sturgeon Bay from Nova Scotia by its first owner, and then brought down through Chicago to Mobile via the Tenn-Tom and around to its next home port of Savannah by the second owner. Before we bought it, a hard top was added that stops at 19'8", and the previously folding mast was hard-wired into the hard top so that it is now essentially fixed and makes for a 24'8" air draft. We're in the very early planning stages at this point, so in anticipation of some of the questions: no we have not purchased the full set of charts (although many are here on the boat from its first and last excursion down this route) and I have not painstakingly followed the route looking at each and every bridge clearance. I'm hoping to hear of any show-stoppers here so that I don't spend a ton of money or time on a fool's errand. I should mention also that our boat has a 6,000nm range and can be self-sufficient in terms of water and waste capacity for a full month, so I am not concerned about the lack of pleasure boat facilities along the Mississippi between Cairo and New Orleans. Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide. -Sean m/y Vector lying Georgetown, Exuma, BS http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com _______________________________________________ http://lists.trawlering.com/mailman/listinfo/great-loop_lists.trawlering.com To modify your Great-Loop subscription options (change email address, unsubscribe, etc.) go to: http://lists.trawlering.com/mailman/options/great-loop_lists.trawlering.com